Showing results by narrator "Ralph Lister" in All Categories

This novel provides a fascinating look into life in late 14th-century England, the women and men Chaucer loves, the intrigues of the Richardian court, and what compels someone who holds some of the most important jobs in the English bureaucracy to spend his nights writing poetry that is still being read and studied 600 years after his death.

After the liberation of the Greenreef islands, Elias has returned to the mainland of Lonwick, a new purpose burning in his heart: hunting down and killing the Felle general who murdered his love and purging the land of the scourge that is the Felle. When he returns, he finds that the war brewing to the south is on the verge of erupting, and his allies back home have found themselves in dire situations.

Pinocchio can't believe the Moonlit Court is his home! With royal banquets, a regal wardrobe, and a whole new set of rules, Pinocchio has a lot to adjust to in his new life as prester alongside Princess Lazuli. But before they can get comfortable in their thrones, a fancy dinner at the palace is interrupted by an unwelcome guest - a monster! And this isn't just any monster; it's a manticore, a beast that was imprisoned centuries earlier.

The automa Pinocchio has always been duty-bound to serve in the floating palace of Venice's emperor. So when Pinocchio finds himself locked in a trunk and delivered to a new master - a wanted criminal and alchemist named Geppetto - he is curious about everything around him. But most curious is the way Pinocchio seems to be changing from a wooden servant into a living, human boy.

The Book of Job is the first document in history to take seriously the question of why really bad things happen to really good people. Alexander Goldberg’s eight-part ebook explores who Job was, why he matters, and what his story has to teach us about the nature of belief and of life.

Basil the mouse detective is called to Paris when the organizers of the Great Cheese Cook-off (an international culinary competition) start receiving threats against the event. Who could want to deprive all of mousedom of one of its tastiest nights? Basil immediately suspects Ratigan, who has escaped yet again and was seen lurking around Paris, and sets off on his investigation at the event’s location, the Parisian College of Cooking. But Basil is baffled when circumstantial evidence shows that it couldn’t have been his old enemy after all.

Listeners will discover lost and forgotten women who wrote horror every bit as effectively as their male contemporaries. They will learn about their lives and careers, the challenges they faced as women working in a male-dominated field, the way they overcame those challenges, and the way they approached the genre - which was often subtler, more psychological, and more disturbing.

National bestselling author Judith Tarr returns to the world of her critically-acclaimed Devil’s Bargain as the sorceress Sioned and her half-brother King Richard once again face the Old Man of the Mountain, an evil sorcerer determined to destroy them....

At the coronation of the new king of England, two crowns are offered to Richard the Lionheart: the mortal and the magical. Lured by earthbound glory and driven by mortal faith, Richard spurns the pagan crown - and rides off on a Crusade to reclaim a sun-scorched Jerusalem from the infidels, leaving his new kingdom defenseless in the mists…. For some unknown power has brought down the wall between worlds - and beings of dark magic await their chance to cross over the threshold.

The conclusion of the Night-Bound Land duology. The Roil has not yet been defeated - and the Roil extends its grip on Shale, following the commands of the Dreaming Cities. Wars will be fought. Doomsday weapons employed. And night will fall. Trent Jamieson is an Australian fantasy writer, and winner of two Aurealis Awards, whose Death Most Definite series is already attracting rave reviews.

Shale is dying. A vast, chaotic, monster-bearing storm known only as the Roil is expanding, consuming the land. The last humans are fighting back with ever more bizarre new machines, but the Roil seems unstoppable. Whole cities have been consumed – where once there were twelve, now only four remain. It’s up to a decadent wastrel, a four thousand year-old man, and a young woman bent on revenge, to try to save their city – and the world.

In a kingdom fraught with power struggles, an outside force threatens to undermine the centuries-long reign of the Graymere family. At the center of the emerging conflict are young Darrin and Princess Edlen. Darrin desires to overcome the stain of his family history and rise in the ranks of the Eyes of the Forest, a group of men sworn to protect the vast forests of Onyris. Meanwhile Princess Edlen, though deeply loyal to her friends, attempts to thwart the control her royal family holds over her life by sneaking about disguised as a peasant.

One thousand years have passed since Ragnarök. New lands have been brought to Midgard with the collapse of Yggdrasil, and new magic has been discovered by the survivors. The old gods are dead, and have been replaced by those left standing after the last war.

Biology professor Theron Tademus cares about his work above all else, certainly more than friendship or romance. In fact, he doesn’t really like people in general. While spending his summer holiday in the mountains of North Carolina, Tademus meets a beautiful, mysterious young lady named Elva who is unlike anyone he’s ever met. Try as he might, the professor can’t stop thinking about her. Elva, though, may be more than she appears, and Tademus may be in serious danger. Is the professor’s love of science any match against the elf trap?

50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know is a young man’s guide to becoming the type of guy that people respect and enjoy. He knows how to shake hands. He knows how to be a good sport. He knows how to give a genuine compliment and how to speak his mind without being offensive. His friends listen to what he has to say, and he returns the favor. He knows how to achieve the perfect knot in a necktie and, more important, he knows when he should be wearing a tie in the first place. Oh, and his favorite ball cap?

The Nihlosians and Xanthians have united to thwart the dead God’s prophecy, but as tempers flare or pride prickles, the alliance hangs by a thread. Meanwhile, the political situation in Nihlos grows worse every day. Two Council members have been assassinated, some are in open rebellion, and many blame the Empress herself for all of it. Amidst this chaos, Llaweh commands Ahmed to enter Nihlos alone and place himself at the mercy of the Meite sorcerers. But they too are torn apart by civil war and have fled their city. For now, they can’t help.

Ahmed’s faith is strong, and so is his sword-arm, but as for details, those were for his fallen master. Now, he must somehow rise to the task of leading his men and, by Ilaweh's grace, thwart the Dead God's apocalyptic prophecy. If Ahmed can earn his men's respect, there might still be time to do as his master had hoped - ally with the sorcerers of Nihlos. Ahmed will need that power, for their ultimate destination is the true heart of darkness. An ancient city of evil and death that none survive.

Brimming with life and unforgettable voices, the stories in Austin Bunn's dazzling collection explore the existential question: what happens at the end, and what lies beyond it? In the wry but affecting "How to Win an Unwinnable War", a summer class on nuclear war for gifted teenagers turns a struggling family upside down. A young couple's idyllic beach honeymoon is interrupted by terrorism in the lush, haunting "Getting There and Away".

USA Today bestselling author of Nine Jan Burke delivers chills, suspense, shockers, and sharp wit in eighteen works of short fiction sure to satisfy longtime fans and newcomers alike. This positively addictive anthology is full of surprises—a patchwork of settings and characters not soon forgotten, and mysterious twists and revelations not quickly shaken!

To mention the names Ernst Gombrich, Nikolaus Pevsner, Joseph Conrad, Nancy Astor, C.L.R. James and Lucian Freud is to give but a brief glimpse of the impact immigrants to this country have made on our national culture and character. Indeed, these people have been crucial to the development of recent British history and have been indispensable for the way we live now.